Hi everyone - I am trying to put together a Christmas gift (both for me and another Floyd fan) of the best shows from each era. I know this is something that is open to interpretation and opinions vary, but I am looking for your expert opinions/logic here.

What would you consider the best sounding circulating audios of the following:
1. Early Floyd (up to 1970)
2. Early 70's with Atom Heart Mother and Meddle material (looking for probably 2 shows here since it is so excellent!)
3. 1972/73 Dark Side shows
4. 1975 show
5. 1977 Animals/WYWH show
6. Best Wall show from the early 80's
7. Best Gilmour era Floyd Delicate Sound of Thunder show.
8. Best Division Bell 1994 era show

I am staying away from the solo stuff for now, as I want to focus on Floyd. I also want to put a greater focus on the earlier stuff when they were all together (items 1-6 above).

I appreciate any comments or feedback. Hopefully I can find all of your suggestions online and give them a listen.

lordtomaso

11-05-2006, 04:07 PM

I'll give a try :p I'll list my few favourites for every era.

1. Early Floyd.
BBC archive 1967-1969 HRV CDR 008 Nice sounding recordings from 1967 to 1969.
Complete Concertgebouw 1969-09-17 Best The Man and The Journey concept show in circulation.

I'm not really enough of a connoisseur to come up with my own list, but I will say that I agree with the recommendation for Complete Concertgebouw 1969-09-17 because of (a) the sound quality (if you get the right version) and (b) because it is a great example of an important series of shows. I'd also concur with a recommendation of those 1970 and 1971 Peel Sessions, again for the sound quality especially if you get the ********* version with the high quality stereo tracks.

If you are after high sound quality, I wouldn't recommend Project Birmingham, but I do strongly recommend it if you can accept a lesser sound quality for an absolutely unique recording of tracks that were rarely played and some that don't appear elsewhere at all.

You missed 1974 in your original list. I'd recommend something from there because you want to hear the earliest versions of Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Raving and Drooling and You Gotta Be Crazy. Also for historical significance I'd agree with the recommendation for a recording from the 1977-07-06 Montreal spitting incident show, even if just to hear Roger get fed up then later baiting the audience.

You'll also need one of the early 1972 shows, again for the historical significance of hearing what were then known as The Travel Sequence and The Mortality Sequence.

For the best sound quality from each era, apart from the two I listed at the start, I'll leave it up to the others to comment.